, and as great as that of the river, so that it seemed this had
once been the bed of the Balonne. We crossed it at a dry part of the
swamp, the waters extending and increasing in it to the eastward. In the
opposite direction it was equally uniform and continuous, but apparently
dry. On crossing this old channel, I turned sharply to the N. E., aware
that it is usually at acute angles in a river's course that such
overflowings break out. I found it necessary in the present case to turn
eastward, and even to the southward of east before I could find the river
again. At length we came upon the channel divided amongst ridges of sand,
where the waters took a sharp turn and broke thus into separate currents.
I was now very desirous to select a camp where the cattle might remain to
rest and refresh while I proceeded with a small party to the N. W. This
place did not please me, having been too scrubby, the water not well
tasted, and the grass dry, therefore liable to be set on fire by the
natives, or by accident. A bulbous species of CYPERUS grew on the bank of
the Balonne, and in the river we found the common European reed, ARUNDO
PHRAGMITES: a Loranthus allied to L. LINEARIFOLIUS, but with broader
leaves, grew on some of the trees, and we saw a fine new species of
ADRIANIA.[*] (No. VII.) Thermometer, at sunrise, 47 deg.; at noon, 102 deg.; at 4
P. M., 104 deg.; at 9, 69 deg.; with wet bulb, 62 deg.. Average height above the sea,
of camps V. VI. and VII., 559 feet.

[* A. HETEROPHYLLA (Hooker MSS.) foliis ovato-acuminatis grosse
sinuatoserratis integris cordatisve trifidis, utrinque bracteisque
glaberrimis.]

12TH APRIL.--I accordingly put the party in motion at an early hour, and
soon came upon the river, where it formed a noble reach of water and came
from the westward, a new direction, which, with the sand that had for
some days appeared in shallow parts of its bed, raised my hopes that this
river might be found to come from the north-west, a direction it
maintained for five miles. The breadth was uniform, and the vast body of
water was a most cheering sight. The banks were 120 yards apart, the
course in general very straight, contributing much to the perspective of
the scenery upon it. At one turn, denuded rocks appeared in its bed,
consisting of ironstone in a whitish cement or matrix, which might have
been decomposed felspar. I at length arrived at a natural bridge of the
same sort of rock, affording easy and permanent ac